Rolf Köhler
Quick Facts
Biography
Rolf Köhler (May 24, 1951 – September 16, 2007) was a German singer, musician and record producer.
Köhler initially achieved commercial success performing under the pseudonym Marc de Ville in the 1970s. As Marc de Ville, Köhler released a number of chart-topping singles, including "Annie (I Don't Wanna Talk About The Weather)", "Walking Alone in the Rain" and "California". Köhler performed with a diverse range of musicians, including Marius Müller-Westernhagen and heavy metal band Saxon. Köhler also wrote a number of commercially successful German songs, including "Wenns um Geld geht", "Tortella" and "BIFI". Köhler's was part of the Modern Talking, choir that used a falsetto style. Köhler co-owned Karo Music Studios and produced music for artists including Kalle Trapp, Blind Guardian, Molly Hatchet, New Commix, Kentucky, Toll House, Ser, Ian Cussick band, BLUE BLIZZ, Wave (with Wiedeke) and Gnadenlos Platt. In the 1980s, Köhler worked on a number of disco productions with artists including Stag, L'Affair, C. Dorian, and Tom Jackson. Several of Köhler's disco productions, including Solid Strangers, Boo Who, Straight Flush, and Broken Dreams, achieved mainstream commercial success. Many of Köhler's disco productions are now considered disco music classics by disco collectors.
Köhler died on September 16, 2007, from an apoplectic attack.
Dieter Bohlen and Rolf Kohler
Köhler was the background singer and also had certain parts as the 2nd lead vocalist for some of the Blue System tracks, a pop group created by Dieter Bohlen as the lead vocalist.
Systems in Blue
In 2003, Köhler, together with Michael Scholz, Detlef Wiedeke and producer Thomas Wildrat, formed the Europop/Synthpop group Systems in Blue, which evolved from Blue System and Modern Talking. Systems in Blue has released 4 commercially successful albums as of January 2013. The group still retain a large following, consisting of a large number of Modern Talking fans.
In 2008, Systems in Blue released the album, Out of the Blue. Many critics noted that the musical construction and lyrics of the album were more mature and independent than the group's previous album, Point of No Return. Out of the Blue reached #60 on amazon.de. Systems in Blue performed in Russia and Israel.